Monday, November 26, 2007

Ryan has officially begun brewing his own beer. We won't know for a few weeks if it's drinkable or not, but we're excited nonetheless. Ryan says as long as it doesn't taste like band aids, he'll be happy.

Ryan and his friend Matt had gone to a place in Indy called Great Fermentations a few weeks ago to talk to someone about getting started. They bought a few supplies, and Ryan started reading a home brew book. Yesterday afternoon, they both went to a brewing class and came home extremely motivated to get started. The process seemed to go very well overall. They ran across a few questions as they were doing everything, but most of what they needed to know was in the book, so they referred back to it a few times.

The house smelled really weird. Kinda like fresh bread, but not as good. I guess that's from the yeast they were using. It was cool to watch the yeast after they mixed it. It seemed like there were a million steps involved, but the guys seemed to think it was pretty easy. They started out with an IPA, which is a pale ale. Even though I don't like beer, I will try this when it is ready. Eventually, I would like to start making my own wine. I think I'll let Ryan perfect his craft first, and then he'll be able to help me quite a bit with the wine.

Of course, I took some pictures of the process. Let's see if I can remember what's going on in these.............This is the turkey fryer I got out of this whole deal. The guys needed a five gallon pot with a spout to drain liquid from the bottom, so we went to Rural King and bought a turkey fryer the other day.The process begins with sterilized water that has had to sit in a closed and vacuum sealed container for at least 24 hours. Ryan is stirring in some of the first ingredients here. This makes what is called the wort. The wort is basically the malt and hops mixed with water before it ferments.Not sure what he's doing here. Everything has to be extremely clean for the beer to turn out right, so our kitchen smelled like alcohol and bleach from all the cleaning we had done.These are the hops that Ryan is smelling. I personally think they stink, and they burn my nose, but Ryan thinks they smell delicious.This is one of the exciting parts, when you get to add the hops. It's common to have a "boil-over" when this happens, but the guys got lucky for their first try, and it never overflowed on them.Matt did an excellent job keeping an eye on the wort as they got it ready on the stove. It is never supposed to boil, but you want to keep the temperature as high as possible, so they had to watch it very closely.After the wort is finished on the stove, it has to be cooled down to a certain temperature before you can tranfer it and add the yeast. In order to cool it down quickly, the guys put the turkey fryer in the tub full of cold water. Ryan bought a digital cooking thermometer to make it easy on himself.This is the wort colling off in the tub.The garage has now become our little brewery. After the wort cooled off enough, it had to be transferred to the container that had the sterilized and vaccum sealed water in it. This bucket has some kind of valve on the top if it that allows carbon dioxide to escape as the water sits. That helps the fermentation process somehow, and keeps everything fresh.This is Ryan adding the yeast to the wort and water in the garage. It is starting to smell like a brewery in there.Here, Ryan and Matt are shuffling through supplies in the garage preparing for the next night of work. That will take place in two weeks.

In two weeks, after the wort has fermented with the yeast, the beer will then be transferred into a large glass bottle to collect any sediment that might be hanging on. After the glass bottle, they will transfer it a second time to this plastic bucket. This bucket has a spout on the bottom to fill the actual beer bottle with. So, they should have enough to fill 48 bottles in a couple weeks.

After the beer is transferred to the bottles, it has to remain untouched for another two weeks. I'm not sure what happens during this time. Ryan hasn't explained that part to me yet. The guys are going to call their beer "Wammer Ale." That's where they came up with this crazy "W" thing they're doing with their hands......crazy kids!!!At the end of the night, the guys celebrated with a big high five!!! Success.......so far.................

Saturday, November 24, 2007

After getting up and eating our biscuits and gravy, Dave, Kellyanne, Kelly Jo, Julie and I all piled into my car and headed to Cincinnatti Ohio. It was a beautiful day to drive, and we all had stories to tell of the previous nights, so the trip seemed like it was only an hour or so. Well, it seemed that way to me at least, but I wasn't crammed in the back seat with two other people and a cooler like the girls were....you guys are troopers :-)

When we got into Cincinnatti, we started looking for one of three roads, either Central Parkway, Ridge road, or something else....I don't remember now, but those were the roads we knew had hotels on them that were fairly close to the venue. We didn't make any reservations or anything, we were just kinda wingin' it at this point hoping for an open room somewhere. Luckily, we came across Central Parkway, took the exit, and about a mile down the road, we found a little Budget Host Hotel. So, that became our home for the night.

When we got up to our room, the first thing someone noticed was the phone in our bathroom. The phone was not alone. It had a nice little bottle opener on the wall next to it incase you wanted to poop, talk on the phone, and drink a beer all at the same time....how convenient. Someone called us late on that phone wanting to know if we wanted to party......it was probably close to 3:00 AM by this time....but we were still having our own party, so Kellyanne politely declined the invite.

Here's Kelly Jo, Kellyanne, and Julie in our room before we left for the show.Here's a picture of "the girls" taken at Annie's. I look like I have to pee or something!!! AAWWWWWW.......aren't they sweet....even though Dave is wearing a BEARS jersey....BOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

This is a little later in the night in front of the stage.

I think I had more fun at this Hookah show than most of the shows I've ever been to. A lot of that may be the fact that I was not designated driver that night, so I drank A LOT of wine, oh yeah, and a few shots of Jagermeister, and laughed and danced my ass off all night long. All of us who went together hung out up front together most of the night. The fact that we were all together made it even more fun. I really think the bands feeds off of seeing fools like us up front and having a blast. They were on fire that night. That whole venue was so full of energy and good vibes. It was awesome. I only wish Ryan could have been there with us. If he had gone, maybe he could have thrown my bra on stage instead of Kellyanne doing it......yes, I tried to squeeze that little detail into the middle of this whole thing, so maybe it will get overlooked if Sissy reads this or something :-).....hey, I was hot, my bra didn't fit good, and it kept creaping up my boobs until it would stick out the top of my shirt....so it had to go...and where else would it go besides up on the stage?!?!? Funny thing is, they gave it back :-) Yeah, they knew it was mine, threw it out into the crowd, and Dave gave it back to me.....oh my God, I can't believe I actually posted that for all eyes to see....but hey, I'm not trying to hide anything here :-) I'm a little crazy sometimes. It's in my genes :-)

I liked this picture because of the way the blues lights are reflecting off of Dave's guitar.You can always count on Cliff for a good laugh. I'm not even sure how it started, but I kept taking picture of everyone's feet. When Cliff noticed I was doing this, he pulled up his pants legs to show off those sexy socks of his!!! This may have something to do with why Kellyanne threw her socks up there......it was after the bra incident, so who knows :-)These next couple pictures were taken after the show. This is Dave Katz with Kellyanne and me.Of course, you all know I had to bug Eric after the show. He's my favorite drummer in the whole wide world...and he knows it, so he just expects to be bugged by me when he sees me. It's just a known fact. But I don't think he really minds.After a mind blowing show, I think the band was ready to start partying like the rest of us had been doing all along. We stuck around for awhile after the show talking to people and playing paparrazzi. Finally, we sat down with John Mullins (the lead singer), and finished our last couple drinks of the night. This is me and my favorite muffin......That's what we call Mullins, so that's what I named that picture. Security actually had to ask us to leave because there was no one else left inside except us and the band. So, I pulled myself away from Muffins and we headed out to catch a cab.

While we were waiting for the cab, we called Ryan to let him know what a great show he missed.....oh yeah, and to let him know we were all safe. I missed having him there with me. But it didn't keep me from having fun.

We got back to the hotel, and we were all starving. So, Julie and Dave decided to go down the street to White Castle for all of us. They came back with bags full of a little of everything from there. We had a giant White Castle feast before we all headed to bed. It was awesome, and truthfully, I think the White Castle food is what saved me from having a huge hangover the next morning. I'm not used to drinking much, so I just expected to wake up sick, but thanks to the chicken rings, I woke up feeling like a million bucks!!! I was ready to hit the road.

So, we all piled back into my car and headed back to Indiana. Everyone except Dave slept part of the way home. Dave was a trooper with me. When I got home, it was time for bed. I think I crawled into bed at about 4:00 PM sunday, got up at 10:30 in time to see Ryan after work, and went back to bed at midnight. I finally feel like I have caught back up on my sleep......now I'm ready to do it all over again!!!!

Monday, November 19, 2007

These are Steve Sweney's magic alien hands.................and his magic alien guitar that makes sounds like no other :-)

After driving four hours to get home from Grand Rapids, I was just in time to start getting ready for the next show in Lafayette at The Lafayette Brewing Company, or LBC.

Kelly Jo followed me from Michigan, and we pulled into West Middleton at about 5:00. Plenty of time to shower, make a few phone calls, and round up our friends who were tagging along. After all the loose strings were taken care of, Julie, Aaron, my nieghbor Marcus, Kelly Jo, and I all piled into Aaron's car and he drove us to Lafayette.

Chad and Jen were there just hanging out getting a couple coctails before the show. They didn't go to the show, but we got to see eachother briefly before I went upstairs, so that was cool. There were so many people there that I knew, I kinda felt bad because I didn't get to talk to everyone as much as I would have liked to. Regardless, I managed to have another great night!!!

We all grabbed a bite to eat before Ekoostik Hookah came on. The food the the LBC is awesome!! There's some kind of weird boiled eggs called scotch eggs that a lot of my friends get when we go there. I stuck to normal things like cheesy potato munchers and whatnot. After filling up on delicious bar food, we headed up for the party!!

I really enjoy going to shows at the LBC. The dance floor is pretty big, and when enough people get moving, you can feel the floor rumble under your feet. It really is an awesome feeling. The bass drum rattles through your chest like thunder. It gives me chills just thinking about it. It's one of those situations that makes you sit back and think about how good it is to be alive and able to FEEL so much. I don't necessarily mean that in just a literal sense either.

Ryan had to work all weekend, so the LBC show was the only one he was able to attend. I missed him at the other two shows. This picture was shortly after he got there. That's Kelly Jo with us. He actually made it a little earlier than I expected, so that was a nice surprise.

I caught Eric's attention to snap this pic in between songs. He is so much fun. I got a drum stick from him after the show....I wonder if it's one of the ones he's holding....hhhmmmmmmmI love taking pictures at the LBC because you can get literally inches away from the band. In fact, there were a couple times I felt like I was too close. Like I was invading their space or something....but that didn't stop me :-) This is John Mullins on guitar. He has gotten familiar enough with me and Ryan that he always approaches us now. (He was the one who re-joined the band last year) That makes me feel good...I don't have to be that annoying fan chasing after him all the time now. Although, not much stops me from hunting these guys down after the shows anyway, but he just makes it a little easier!!!Good ol' Dave Katz....I love this guy!! Some would say he is the heart of the band. Very playful and positive, always smiling, and ready to blow us away. He was actually hiding behind his michrophone on purpose when I took this picture. I was crouched down in front of his keyboard trying to get a good shot through the crowd when he noticed me.Luckily, Dave gave in and came out from hiding and I got a good one of him laughing at me.......That may have had something to do with the fact that I was flipping him off while I was snapping that pic with my other finger :-) Either way, he looks like a happy man, huh?

We got lots of great songs that night. They covered "Hush" by Deep Purple and tore it up!!! That whole building was rockin' by the time they finished that song. They were in the moment for sure on that one!! I was sweating so bad from dancing by the end of the night, that I bet I lost five pounds.....that's my kind of exercise!!!!

Here's Kelly Anne and Ryan at our house.

Several of our friends came back to stay at our house after the show, so we stayed up and continued the party until almost 6:00 AM. I cracked a bottle of wine when we got there and began to catch a little buzz. I stayed sober at the show incase anyone needed a designated driver. But the Shiraz was deliciously waiting for me when I got home :-) So, by the time some of these photos were taken, little ol' Alli-Gal was feelin' pretty good :-)Kelly Jo, Julie, me, and Kelly Anne.....Yep....feelin' good...............That just happens to be the name of one of my favorite Hookah songs that has an awesome drum solo. I love it when my man Eric gets his time to shine :-)I'm pretty sure I took this picture this way on purpose, although, I'm not sure what my thinking was at the time :-) Regardless, it's a cute one of Kelly Jo, and one of her skirts she made.

After a few hours of sleep, I managed to drag myself out of bed. Surprisingly, I felt pretty darn good when I woke up. So, I sent Julie to the store to buy sausage and milk and made a huge pan of biscuits and gravy for everyone. Aaron took off early, so he missed out on that. There's still enough left to feed probably at least six people, so if ya'll want some....come on over!!!!!!!

This past weekend was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time!!! I started my weekend early, on Thursday, and headed up to Grand Rapids, MI for an Ekoostik Hookah show. My friend Kelly Jo lives up there in Rockford, which is only a few minutes outside of Grand Rapids, so I stayed with her.

I got to drive through my first snowstorm of the year when I got into Michigan. It wasn't bad, but it was snow....and I do NOT like snow!!!! I got to Kelly Jo's house at about 6:30, so we hung out for awhile at her house before the show. I played with her dog, Moonshadow, all night long. I love him!!!

We got to the show shortly after we thought the doors opened. Just as Kelly Jo and I were about to go order some food, the band started playing. That NEVER happens!!! If anything, they are usually running late.....we all just call it "Hookah time" when someone wants to know what time a show starts. So, we never got any food. We just ran up front and started dancing out tails off.

A friend from Chicago, Travis, or Nem as most of us know him, stayed with KJ that night too. He always sets up his recording equipment at the shows and records them. It's awesome to be at a show with him, because you can listen to it as soon as you get in the car afterwards. I really need to start pulling some strings with him, and getting copies of all these shows.

I liked this picture of KJ. She is always dancing and twirling around. She makes the shows so much fun!! She also hulahoops at any show where she can get in with her hoop. This venue wouldn't allow it though. Here we both are rocking out together!!!

The show was great!! I got to hear a couple songs I had only heard once live before, so that was cool. The band also dedicated a song to a fellow from Grand Rapids who just passed away recently. That was pretty emotional for a lot of the kids who were there. He had been a close friend of theirs. I thought it was very special that they did that for a fan. The ever-so-famous Steve Sweney. The man is not possibly from this planet. I'm pretty convinced of this........... This picture leads into a whole series of photos over the weekend.....you'll see what I mean on some of the other entries from this trip. It seems a little ironic that I would photograph feet, considering how much I hate feet, but these bare boys belong to Dave Katz. KJ wanted a picture of his feet.....so she got it!!! Sweet ol' Cliffy on bass. I just love this guy!! He's sweatin' up a storm, but he's sexy as ever!!!KJ looked so cute in her outfit she made. It was part of her halloween costume. She was "Canary Yellow" from Rainbow Bright.This is our buddy Travis (Nem) after the show at KJ's house. KJ fell asleep before we did. I sat up with Travis and KJ's hubby until almost 5:00 AM. KJ let me sleep until noon, and then we got up and started the trip to Indiana. About an hour and a half into our trip, we decided to stop and at a "Frisch's Big Boy" for breakfast. It was delicious!! It was a little ironic that we stopped there when we did, because Dan Mesnard, AKA Dan the Soundman, came in right behind us. He is the soundman for Hookah...hence the nickname :-) We decided we were all on a race to get to Lafayette where the next show was scheduled. We all had different places to stop in between. Dan was stopping somewhere in Ohio, Nem was going back to Chicago, and KJ and I had to stop at my house to get ready to go again. I'm pretty sure Dan the Soundman made it before we did. So, he won!!Right before KJ and I made it back to my house, I decided to take a pic of the sunset. It was a beautiful evening. So, that made the last part of the drive really nice. Most of the day was a little cloudy until we hit Miami county, and then the sun poked through the clouds.....gorgeous!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Monday, November 12, 2007

Have any of you ever checked out the website Craigs list? It is probably one of the most hilarious things out there for random entertainment.

It's kind of like a big online classified ad with anything and everything to offer. There are plenty of things I would never even consider posting here, but you can always check it out at: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/ .

Here is a short disclaimer that you will find when first visiting the best of craigslist. However, even if you're not 18, you are safe to read what I have posted :-)

"Before perusing best-of-craigslist postings below please note:postings are nominated by craigslist readers, and are not necessarily endorsed by craigslist staff.-postings may be explicitly sexual, scatalogical, offensive, graphic, tasteless, and/or not funny-if you see copyrighted material not original to craigslist, please let us know and we'll remove it.-if you are under age 18, please use your 'back' button and seek parental guidance-by continuing you acknowledge being 18 or older and release craigslist from any liability arising from your use of best-of-craigslist "

And now..... a few of my favorite listing's on the Best-of list at the moment................

----Butt Kicking Machine:I am looking for candidates to try out my new invention for a carnival. I need people with a good strong butt. Duties involve sustained blows to the rear by different brands of shoes attached to a rotating ferris wheel device. This job is not for people that have hemmroids or any other ailments of that nature. Must be able to pass background, have a clean/ perfect DMV and pass a drug test from hair samples. Basically im like any other company I want that perfect person for a job that any ass can do. Oh and If you need any remodeling done I have 10+ years experience and my own tools.---- Basic Instinct Video:Need to get this out of my life. I think it works fine. I turned it off when Michael Douglas had sex - it made me celibate for a while. Note: if you take this, I will judge you.

----Hi... If your name is Roy, Troy or LeRoy...I WANT YOU! I was with a Roy before (please see photo) and it didn't last as long as my tattoo. Who knew? Getting the tattoo removed is not something I want to do, plus I'm so accustomed to bellowing it (Roy) out in bed. What can I say, I'm a creature of habit. If your name isn't Roy, or even a variation, but you can somehow find a way to incorporate it into my tattoo, I'm open to suggestions. About me: I'm 27, 5'4", 115 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, freckles and looking for love (and a way to keep my tattoo). Thanks fellas, Dynah ----Potato Cannon:It's 8ft long. My neighbors figured out what was happening so I need to get rid of it today.

----To The Stoner Who Works At Cottage Inn Pizza:You: the guy who answers the phone at cottage inn pizzaMe: Hungry and stoned out of my gourd

I called you from my cell phone but had completely forgot who I was calling by the time you answered the phone.Of course, you were also baked to bajeezus and forgot to tell me that I had called Cottage Inn. When you answered and said, “Whatsup?” I thought about it, and after a 20 second pause I told you that was hungry.You suggested I try a pizza, and I agreed that it was probably a good idea.Then I asked you if you sold pizza and you said that you could make me one. I said I wanted anchovies and something else on my pizza.You asked me what that something else was. We spent five minutes listing toppings until we figured out that I was trying to remember how to say: “Sun dried Tomatoes.”When you said: “We'll bake that right up for you,” we both started laughing uncontrollably.It was the best pizza I ever had; I just wanted to thank you for helping me out.

And, last but not least.......my all time favorite......

----Free Air Guitar:left handed vintage air guitar for free all thats needed is new strings and a good dusting.

Attics of my Life

About Me

I am a 33 year old female going on 16. I still get carded for cigarettes. I'm finally getting to the age that I appreciate that.
I am an x-ray technologist and also the clinical instructor for the school of radiography for St. Vincent Hospital. Basically that means I teach people how to become an x-ray tech.
I have 3 mini dachshunds and a big fat beagle. Those are my children.
I'm a struggling guitar novice, but I love to pick around. I also play a little piano.
I love to go to concerts and festivals. I love to travel, even though I don't go very far very often.
My husband and I volunteer for a no-kill animal rescue in our hometown. We have been foster parents for several animals, and helped them find their new forever homes.
Living life to its fullest is my daily goal.